The invention pertains to a yarn package positioner for textile machines and, more particularly, to an improved type weft yarn package positioner for so-called shuttleless looms.
In looms of the shuttleless type, that is, those looms in which weft yarn is supplied from an outside source and is not carried to and fro through the shed by the shuttle or carrier itself, it is common practice to utilize a package positioner at one side of the loom to support and position the supply of weft from which the required amounts are withdrawn during loom operation. Package holders for shuttleless looms of the prior art performed their intended function satisfactorily; however, the means by which they are mounted in operative association with a loom and the limited versatility which they possess relative to the means for selectively locating a yarn package in operating position on a loom has initiated numerous requests for a simplified yarn package support having greater versatility in the means for selectively locating a yarn package.
A well-known form of package holder commonly utilized on shuttleless looms to which the present invention is applicable is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,165,279. This form of package holder is pivotally mounted on a fixed rail member that forms a part of a loom's framework. The package supporting spindle of this holder has limited pivotal movement between a position for assembling a cone of yarn thereon and that position where yarn is withdrawn from the package for presentation to the inserting carrier.
With the great variety of different types of weft yarns being utilized in the weaving of present day fabrics it has been found advantageous to provide a means whereby the yarn package can be selectively located in the most desirable position for weft to be withdrawn therefrom and presented to the means for its insertion into a warp shed.
As is well-known to those conversant in the art of shuttleless weaving so-called weft supply shields are carried on the loom in the area intermediate the weft supply and the elements which effect insertion of said weft into a warp shed. These shields serve to prevent weft which has a tendency to balloon as it is being withdrawn from becoming entangled with adjacent parts of the loom. The shields are provided with centrally disposed eyelets through which the weft travels as it is withdrawn. With the known types of package holders the distance between the eyelets in the shields and the yarn packages is fixed, or in other words this distance cannot be varied.
Weft yarns of low count have a much greater tendency to balloon as they are being withdrawn from their source than those classified as fine or high count yarns. For this reason and coupled with the rate of withdrawal of the weft from its source, the most advantageous location or operating position for a supply cone of weft will vary and can best be determined by the particular type of weft yarn being utilized. With some types of weft yarns preferred withdrawal control is had by locating the supply package closer to the eyelet in the shield than is possible with the conventional holders and positioners. With other types of weft a greater distance from this eyelet provides the most advantageous operating position. Additionally with some yarns it has been found that raising or lowering as well as selecting a particular angular position of the yarn package provides a very definite improvement in the control of particular types of weft as they are being withdrawn from their respective cones.
The yarn package positioner of the present invention provides a device whereby a weft yarn package can be selectively located in the most desirable position for effecting the best suited withdrawal control for all types of weft yarns.